Bringing Dr. Robert Moore’s Legacy into a new Paradigm

On July 31, we gathered our extended community to speak about the legacy of Dr. Robert Moore.

We wanted to honor him for his profound contributions to depth psychology and men’s work – particularly his work with the King, Warrior, Magician, Lover system of archetypes (co-discovered with Douglas Gillette).

We also wanted to inquire honestly into how we feel about his murder-suicide involving his wife Dr. Margaret Shanahan.

It was a moving time together, where we explored the complex and mixed emotions we hold about him and what happened.

I personally hold a strong vision of claiming Dr. Moore’s torch and carrying it into the future and a new paradigm of surrendered leadership, a paradigm which he himself showed little evidence of having entered.

In fact, many of us now wonder if his death is a symbolic transition point, a threshold crossing indicating that the old clinical paradigm of psychotherapy and -analysis is dying.

The whole field of psychotherapy is in decline, and as more and more people are choosing pharmaceuticals over psychotherapy, we suspect that they, rather than being lazy, are longing for more than professionals hiding behind academic roles.

People now seem to want genuine human relationships, where even the therapist or analyst is willing and able to be fully human (which is a big contributing factor to the incredible healing and transformation that men experience on our training).

Having spoken with many people who knew Robert, we are lead to believe that he was not himself willing to enter those truly naked, vulnerable places of shared humanity. We can only speculate if he would still be alive had he deeply authentic community around him when things got rough.

Since the whole event is shrouded in secrecy, we are left only with questions, and the rawness of our hearts.

Thank you, Dr. Moore, for the gifts you shared with us all. May you and your wife rest in peace.

Eivind is a visionary writer, workshop leader, speaker, and founder of Reclaim your Inner Throne. He is committed to introducing a new paradigm of leadership, founded in principles of trust and surrender, and of helping people reclaim their Inner Thrones.